Monday, 17/07/2023 16:20 (GMT+7)
Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien has suggested Australia step up cooperation activities to both remove difficulties and promote bilateral trade between Vietnam and Australia.
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| At the meeting (Photo: congthuong.vn) |
At the Trade Ministers’ Meeting of the members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in Auckland, New Zealand, Minister Dien had a bilateral meeting with Mr. Tim Ayres, Australian Deputy Minister of Trade and Deputy Minister of Manufacturing, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on July 16.
In the context of a slow recovery of the world economy, a decline in demand, and difficulties in two-way trade exchanges between Vietnam and Australia, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien suggested that the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade need to closely coordinate and promote cooperation activities to both remove difficulties and promote bilateral trade exchanges between Vietnam and Australia such as strengthening trade promotion activities, exchanging business delegations, and soon opening the market for Vietnamese agricultural products such as lemon and pomelo.
The two sides agreed to promote the organization of the first meeting of the Ministerial Dialogue on Trade as soon as possible, thereby directly discussing removing difficulties for businesses of the two countries in the context of the difficulties and many adverse effects from the post-COVID-19 economic downturn, and proposing solutions to boost bilateral trade, which was in decline in the first 6 months of 2023.
Besides, in order to soon exploit the potential and promote cooperation between the two countries in the fields of energy and minerals, Minister Dien also suggested Mr. Tim Ayres to pay attention and discuss with the Australian agencies for the two sides to soon agree on and sign a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a ministerial-level dialogue mechanism on Vietnam - Australia energy and minerals in 2023.
This will be an important mechanism to help Vietnam realize the goal of energy transformation, ensuring an important source of raw materials and input fuels for Vietnam's industry and energy because Australia is currently a leading supplier of coal and iron ore.
On this occasion, the two sides also discussed promoting cooperation within the framework of the CPTPP and regional and multilateral economic and trade forums./.
Compiled by BTA